Ospreys 16/17 season thread

[wayne]

First topic message reminder :

Rugby Management and Squad for 16/17
Head Coach Steve Tandy
Backs Gruff Rees
Forwards Chris Gibbes
Defence Brad Davis
Backs.
Dan Evans 3,     Jeff Hassler 2,     Dafydd Howells 2,     Ashley Beck 2,     Owen Watkin 3,     Kieron Fonotia 2,    Ben John 2,     Tom Habberfield 3,     Rhys Webb NDC 3?,     Dan Biggar NDC 3,     Eli Walker 1,     Josh Matavesi 2,     Tom Grabham 1,      Brendon Leonard 2,     Sam Davies 1,      Hanno Dirksen 1, Keelan Giles 3   
Forwards.
Olly Cracknell 2,     Lloyd Ashley3,     Bradley Davies NDC 3,      Joe Bearman 1,     Gareth Thomas 3,     Hugh Gustafson 2,     Adam Beard 3,     Scott Otten 3,     AWJ NDC 3,     Dan Baker NDC 3,     Rory Thornton NDC 3,     Scott Baldwin NDC 3,     James King NDC 2,     Ma'afu Fia 2,     Nicky Smith 3,     Dmitri Arhip 2,     Justin Tipuric 4,     Sam Parry 2,     Tyler Ardron 1,     Paul James 2,     Dan Suter 1,    Rhodri Jones 2, and Sam Underhill 2 but on permit from Bridgend RFC.
Fixture list for 16/17    
2/9   Zebre                                         H                        Guinness                   W 59-5
10/9 Connacht                                    A                        Guinness                   W 32-11
17/9 Treviso                                       H                         Guinness                   W 64-10
23/9 Leinster                                      A                         Guinness                   L  19-31  
1/10 Ulster                                        A                          Guinness                   L  7-9
7/10 Blues                                         H                          Guinness                   W  46-24
15/10 London I                                   H                           BIC                          L  14-25
14/10 Newcastle Falcons                      H                          RCC2                       W  45-0
23/10 Cornish Pirates                          A                           BIC                          L  5-41
22/10 Lyon Olympique                          A                          RCC2                       W  31-13
29/10 NGD                                        H                            W                          W   35-15    
4/11 Munster                                    A                           Guinness                   L   0-33
11/11 Harlequins                               H                            AWC                         L   12-15
18/11 Blues                                      A                           AWC                         W  31-7
25/12 Glasgow Warriors                      H                           Guinness                    W  22-5  
2/12 Edinburgh                                  H                          Guinness                    W  31-22
9/12 Grenoble                                    H                          RCC                          W  59-7
10/12 Connacht Eagles                        A                          BIC                           W  20-17
17/12 Grenoble                                  A                          RCC                           W 71-3                                 
18/12 Connacht Eagles                       H                           BIC                            W 55-14
27/12 Scarlets                                   H                          Guinness                    W  19-9
1/1 NGD                                           A                           Guinness                    W  10-0
7/1 Connacht                                     H                           Guinness                    W  29-7
14/1  Cornish Pirates                          H                            BIC                           L  10-34
15/1 Lyon                                         H                           RCC                           W 47-7
21/1 Newcastle Falcons                       A                          RCC                           W  26-21  
21/1 London I                                   A                            BIC                            W 26-24
28/1 Bristol                                      H                            AWC                          W  20-14
5/2 Wasps                                        A                           AWC                          W  31-22
10/2 Zebre                                       A                           Guinness                     W  40-10
18/2 Munster                                    H                           Guinness                     L  23-25
26/2 Glasgow W                                H                            Guinness                     W  26-15
3/3 Edinburgh                                   A                            Guinness                     W  13-9
25/3 Treviso                                     A                            Guinness                     L  5-13
2/4  St. Francais                               H P/S                       RCC Q/F                     L  18-20  
8/4 Leinster                                      H                            Guinness                     L  18-20
15/4 Blues                                        A                            Guinness                     L  17-35  
29/4 Ulster                                       H                            Guinness                     W  24-10
6/5 Scarlets                                     A                            Guinness                      L  17-40
20/5 Munster                                    A                            Guinness S/F
Will add RCC2 matches when they've been finalised.
Contrary to popular belief some of the Guinness League games will be affected by the Autumn Internationals, our players will be with TW when we play the Dragons, Munster and Glasgow Warriors, the first 2 because of the 13 day call up period and the Warriors because of the infernal 4th game which this year is against SA, and to think some people think everything is hunkydory now that Dodger Lewis has left his legacy rolls on.               
The number after each player signifies how many years they have left on their Ospreys contract, there are a few others who are on either Development Contracts or appear not to be under contract, Jonathon Spratt, Jordan Collier, and Alex Jeffries and a few others come into that category.
Our first 5 games of the season account for the 2 Italians at home and 3 Irish, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster away, so we shouldn't have as bad a start as last season, but not as good as the previous seasons start, in certain positions especially during International periods we are only 1 or 2 injuries away from disaster, and I just hope Steve has learned his selection mistakes from the last few seasons.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

My point is he hasn't done any of that for the Blues yet.

[wayne]

and you haven't seen Allen or Condy play this season yet - both seem to be highly rated No.8s.

Yes they are highly rated, but Baker is ahead of those two. You have to be honest, and say that out of all the Welsh one's Baker is the best. It just shows how much we relied on Taulupe Faletau, and how thankful we must be that he played so often, without getting injured. there is a big gulf between him and the rest.

Having said that, just because I think Dan Baker is the best Welsh number 8 left in Wales, I by no means think he is the best number 8 in Wales. That would be between John Barclay and Nick Williams.

Wouldn't it be an idea to wait until he's played for the Blues before saying that?

Considering it is the Ospreys thread, apart from Faletau, I would not have any of the above playing for us in front of the player playing in that position for us tomorrow.
Tyler Ardron, nearly always gets over the gain line and not by brute force, is an excellent tackler and is far and away better than any of the above including Faletau as a lineout option.

[True Raven]

Nick Williams is good off the back of a scrum from 5 metres out but the only contribution he makes apart from that are cheap shots. Wayne do you know what happened to Jon Fox, after getting a development contract a few years ago thought he would be challenging for a squad place by now

[LordDowlais]

Boys, are we using this thread for the matches this season ? Or is anyone going to put a match thread up ?

[wayne]

Nick Williams is good off the back of a scrum from 5 metres out but the only contribution he makes apart from that are cheap shots.  Wayne do you know what happened to Jon Fox, after getting a development contract a few years ago thought he would be challenging for a squad place by now

TR, I think Jon Fox is with Swansea, he's only around the 20 mark, so plenty of time to force himself through.

[wayne]

Boys, are we using this thread for the matches this season ? Or is anyone going to put a match thread up ?

Lord, I don't normally start up a match by match squad, I'm happy to just post on here, but if yourself or anybody else wants to start one up, I'm happy to contribute.

[LordDowlais]

Done it wayne.

[wayne]

Good to see Rhys Webb given the Stuart Gallacher award for Player of Judgement Day earlier this week, it was started last season and will continue for the foreseeable future.

[international198]

I foresee the Ospreys getting another bonus point win in Galway next Saturday. Connacht looked very weak yesterday.

[wayne]

I foresee the Ospreys getting another bonus point win in Galway next Saturday. Connacht looked very weak yesterday.

Do you I 198, they will be smarting from yesterdays result, and we could really feel the backlash, I've been reading elsewhere that they had 2 important pre-season games cancelled, so they could have been seriously undercooked for that game, which could have been settled by that game, we had 2 hard pre-season games against Leicester Tigers with a development game against Belgium in between, so we were battle hardened and ready for Fridays game.
I for one will be very nervous for our chances next weekend right up to kick off.

[maestegmafia]

Although we scored a number of tries Zebre were not much of a test.

There was good and bad in that performance. I'm glad we put a good score on a poor team but there are far tougher matches ahead..

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Good to see Rhys Webb given the Stuart Gallacher award for Player of Judgement Day earlier this week

Did they really need that long to decide?

[Breadvan]

Good to see Rhys Webb given the Stuart Gallacher award for Player of Judgement Day earlier this week

Did they really need that long to decide?

Maybe, like me, they can barely remember the whole day...

[wayne]

Cannot see many or any changes to the 23 from last weeks squad for tomorrows game against Connaucht, Dan Biggar told me in the shop last week that he would be available for the Treviso game, so doubt he will be back, and if he's not don't expect to see AWJ either, both needed extensive breaks. There might be a small amount of movement from the bench to starting and vice versa, but can't see much else. This will be a tough encounter as the opposition will be smarting from last weekends game against Glasgow, can't see more than 7 points in it either way.

[wayne]

Ospreys team to play Connaucht tomorrow night.
Evans, Hassler, John, Matavesi, Walker, Davies, Webb, Smith, Parry, Arhip, Davies, Thornton, Cracknell, Tipuric, Ardron, with Baldwin, James, Fia, Ashley, Baker, King, Habberfield and Howells on the bench. The main surprise for me is the 6-2 option for the bench, also surprised and unhappy Ashley Beck has an hip injury, hope it is not too serious.
So it is only Biggar and AWJ who are not injured to come back, I expect them on the bench next week, and Adam Beard will also be available then after his suspension is completed.

[LordDowlais]

wayne, Ashley Beck, I think, seriously needs some expert medical advice. It's plainly obvious that his body is not up to the levels to work in a professional rugby environment and I would hope that the medical team at Ospreys are advising him correctly before he gets a serious life changing injury.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

It's a shame about Beck though. He has that rare ability to make everything look easy.

[wayne]

It's a shame about Beck though. He has that rare ability to make everything look easy.

Yes you are right LP, I remember the comment one of the pundits made when he played his only game of last season, that in the pre World Cup warmup match between us and Wales he ran rings round the Welsh centres, I just hope it is a short break.

[maestegmafia]

wayne, Ashley Beck, I think, seriously needs some expert medical advice. It's plainly obvious that his body is not up to the levels to work in a professional rugby environment and I would hope that the medical team at Ospreys are advising him correctly before he gets a serious life changing injury.

Same has been said about loads of players before then they pull it all together. Jonny Wilkinson is a prime example

[wayne]

wayne, Ashley Beck, I think, seriously needs some expert medical advice. It's plainly obvious that his body is not up to the levels to work in a professional rugby environment and I would hope that the medical team at Ospreys are advising him correctly before he gets a serious life changing injury.

Same has been said about loads of players before then they pull it all together. Jonny Wilkinson is a prime example

On our website it has been mentioned that his exclusion is precautionary, and with Ben John having a very good cameo when he came on the previous week, I presume it was felt we could do this exercise, the only misgiving I have with it is the 6-2 balance on the bench, with no centre cover evident.

[mikey_dragon]

Hard fought win against a much improved Connacht. The Irish were pretty good but seemed to run out of steam, errors became commonplace and Ospreys raised the bar to get the bonus point win in the dying stages. It's still early days but that's the sign of a good team. Bradley Davies was quite unimpressive and didn't look like an international at all. Ardron is in great form but unfortunately for us he's Canadian.

[wales606]

Wow, what has happened to Connacht. Conceding 3 tries in the last 10 minutes didn't help, but still, the league winners have less points than Zebre after 2 home games!

[True Raven]

You called it Wayne, Ardron is a quality 8. Showed it two years ago and then injury struck. At 25 he's just going to get better

[True Raven]

Great start from the Ospreys - 100% and beating defending champs at their home ground. I said last year the World Cup affected the Ospreys more than other teams and the way they've started has proven that. Still fancying blues and Ospreys to qualify for champions cup next year.

[wayne]

You called it Wayne, Ardron is a quality 8.  Showed it two years ago and then injury struck.  At 25 he's just going to get better

Yes TR he is the best 8 playing in Wales, how that game wasn't won by half time I don't know, some silly individual mistakes, I also thought Sam Davies was excellent, apart from the charge down, Brad Davis the defence coach is also earning his corn. I never expected that sort of result.
Gweilch a Gwych.

[wayne]

Great start from the Ospreys - 100% and beating defending champs at their home ground.  I said last year the World Cup affected the Ospreys more than other teams and the way they've started has proven that.  Still fancying blues and Ospreys to qualify for champions cup next year.

TR you were right and don't forget the very prominent players that were missing for basically the whole season, Beck, Ardron and Hassler and some who missed very prominent parts of the season, Webb and AWJ.

[True Raven]

Exactly, our strength in depth isn't great so missing key players hurts us. However our first 23 can take on anyone

[wayne]

Exactly, our strength in depth isn't great so missing key players hurts us. However our first 23 can take on anyone

Yes but it is improving with the likes of Fonotia and BBBD coming and because we had to blood the likes of Thornton, Beard and Watkin last season strength there has dramatically improved, I think we really need to get a back 3 player who predominately covers Dan Evans, and hopefully we can get Engelbrecht back soon. Also there is a bit of good news regarding Fonotia his team lost earlier today and are not at the moment in the top 4 and could be with us a couple of weeks earlier than planned.

[True Raven]

That would be good with Ashley beck injured (not sure for how long). Heard he told an Ospreys fan he'll be over the second his team are out of the cup.

On a different matter, i think Sam Davies contract expires this year. What do you think our chances of retaining him are?

[wayne]

That would be good with Ashley beck injured (not sure for how long).  Heard he told an Ospreys fan he'll be over the second his team are out of the cup.  

On a different matter, i think Sam Davies contract expires this year.  What do you think our chances of retaining him are?

There are certain people on our board that think the 2 most important people we have to re-sign is Sam and Tips and it is hard to argue against such a scenario, 2 excellent players for us and unlike some on this board I think they will get even better, I said a few weeks ago on this board Sam would be in the Welsh squad by the end of this season, I believe he should be in for the AI.

[True Raven]

Totally agree. We have the usual patchell supporters (but I think patchells a better 15) but no one can argue against Sams form in 2016. He has his detractors but I think he'll be a fine 10

[Breadvan]

Wow. This would've been the usual away defeat this time last season. A superb result and turn around. Ball handling, off loading, and second half game management was superb. Great result..

[LordDowlais]

Is it me, or is Rory Thornton looking a great prospect ? He had another unsung hero game on Saturday.

[maestegmafia]

Is it me, or is Rory Thornton looking a great prospect ? He had another unsung hero game on Saturday.

And to think he is still in our second choice lock pairing. It bodes well for Ospreys and Wales to see the competition for places at regional level.

[international198]

That would be good with Ashley beck injured (not sure for how long).  Heard he told an Ospreys fan he'll be over the second his team are out of the cup.  

On a different matter, i think Sam Davies contract expires this year.  What do you think our chances of retaining him are?

Sam Davies will resign IMO because of Gatland's Law.

He wants to play for Wales I assume so I think he'll be staying at the Ospreys to maximise his chances of playing for Wales.

[wayne]

We set the record of being the first team to win 6 consecutive Try bonus points in our League last weekend, I hope we can keep it going next weekend, but in reports on this seasons matches Treviso are no pushover. I'll be more than happy with 4 points.

[wayne]

We've announced that Rob McCusker has extended his contract from short term until seasons end. The only problem for me with that announcement, is has one of the players who was expected to be out short term, had some form of relapse.

[True Raven]

I'm concerned about who will play 7 when tips is with wales

[wayne]

For our game against Treviso on Saturday I think our big 2 will make an appearance, I expect something similar to the following for this game,
Evans, Hassler, John/Beck, Matavesi, Walker, Davies, Webb, James, Baldwin, Arhip, Davies, Thornton, Ardron, Tipuric, King with Parry, Smith, Fia, AWJ, Cracknell, Habberfield, Biggar, John/Beck/Howells.
If Beck is fit I expect him to start in the centre and Ben John to be on the bench, if not John to start with Howells on the bench, let me say if it was up to me I would have the same back row that has started both of our games so far, Cracknell, Tipuric and Ardron, but I have a feeling King will be asked to start at 8 by Gatland because of Faletau being out.

[wayne]

I'm concerned about who will play 7 when tips is with wales

Same here TR, how long is Underhill out for? As I said in another thread, we are only one or 2 injuries away from disaster, this is one of them.

[True Raven]

December time I think. Will Jones will be a top player but he's still in school! Josh cole got offfered a development contract 2 years ago so may be given a chance or we'll play cracknell there

[maestegmafia]

I think Cracknell would do a good job at seven

[wayne]

I think Cracknell would do a good job at seven

I thought that MM and TR on last seasons form, but did you see the back row challenge on Ospreys TV about a week ago, if you haven't take a look.

[exile jack]

Wayne,what's the latest on Watkin and Beard? Thanks.

[wayne]

Wayne,what's the latest on Watkin and Beard? Thanks.

Jack I think Watkin is out for a long time, near seasons end, Beard was available for selection today after his ban, but NOT selected

[wayne]

Team selected for Treviso game a few surprises to me.
Evans, Hassler, John, Matavesi, Howells, Davies, Habberfield (C), James, Parry, Arhip, Ashley, Thornton, King, Tipuric, Ardron with Baldwin, Thomas, Fia, AWJ, Cracknell, Webb, Biggar and Giles on the bench.
I really don't understand the selection of Ashley, we have to be playing AWJ and BBBD for the next 2 weeks so why not give them a taster tomorrow if only for 15-20 minutes, surprised at Howells inclusion for Eli Walker, perhaps they are only playing Eli in short bursts, can't say I blame Tandy for not persisting with Sam Parry as he has had an excellent start to the season, also surprised with the scrum half rotation, then Habbers is playing well and finally perhaps this is the right game to give the youngster Keelan Giles a start.

Finally it is good to see the best No 8 playing in Wales playing his 50th game for us, he would surely have got to that number about a year ago if not for an unfortunate injury. Well done Tyler Ardron.

[True Raven]

Beck still injured then?

[wayne]

Beck still injured then?

Yes appears so TR, I always want the teams our future players to do well, but I hope Tasman Hawks lose all their ITM Cup matches so KF can appear here as quick as possible.

[mikey_dragon]

Understandable changes given the poor opposition, my expectations of Ospreys on current form are high - 5 points. Parry is in very good form and Baldwin was poor last year, like Owens is right now IMO. This makes me wonder if we'll see any shock call-ups for the Wales team and I'm not even referring to Parry, unless it's at the expense of Baldwin.
The opposition at this point in the season hasn't been the best. Still, Ospreys with 15 points from three games is the best start you could get.

[maestegmafia]

Connacht were a good team, Zebre were awful.

Strong bench

Hoping for a great result

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